George Josiah Kellogg, an early Wisconsin nurseryman and horticulturist, was born on March 20, 1828 at Cicero, New York. He migrated to Wisconsin at the age of seven and began his involvement with horticulture by picking blueberries and harvesting nuts and apples near Kenosha. Kellogg attended a common school, graduated from Governor L. P. Harvey's academy and then taught school at Brighton, Racine County, and Rush Creek, Jo Daviess County, Illinois. He also worked in various Wisconsin pineries, and in 1849 drove five yoke of cattle to California where he dug for gold in the placer diggings near Hangtown for about three years, netting about 15,000.00 dollars.
In l852 Kellogg returned to Wisconsin via Panama and settled at Janesville where he began his nursery business. In 1899 he moved to Lake Mills and turned his horticultural firm over to his two sons, L. L. and M. S. Kellogg. However, he continued to raise fruit as a hobby and he won many awards at state and local fairs. Kellogg was a charter member of the Wisconsin Fruit Growers' Association.
Kellogg was married to Emily A. Lewis in 1861. After her death he married Mary Hassam. George Kellogg died on January 8, 1919.
